DENVER — Playing from the start without their home run leader and quickly down the player who has in his career made Coors Field his playground, the Padres beat the Rockies 8-1 Tuesday night with a big lift from Manny Machado.
The struggling slugger, who entered the game with a .169 batting average and one home run in his previous 17 games, drove in five runs with a two-run homer in the fifth inning and a bases-loaded triple in the sixth.
It was announced before Tuesday’s game that Fernando Tatis Jr. had tested positive for COVID-19 and had been placed on the injured list along with utility players Jurickson Profar and Jorge Mateo, who had been deemed through contact tracing to have been in close contact with Tatis.
Tucupita Marcano was among the three players the Padres called up to fill out the Padres roster, and he was needed.
Wil Myers, who entered the game with a 1.065 OPS in 202 plate appearances at Coors Field, banged his right elbow against the right field wall making a catch in the first inning, stayed in the game and hit a fly ball an estimated 398 feet to the wall in center field leading off the second inning, but Marcano ran out to right field for the bottom of the third inning.
The temperature at first pitch was 43 degrees, and it hovered in the low 40s throughout the game, which was the series opener after a storm postponed Monday’s game. The teams will play a doubleheader Wednesday beginning at 12:10 PT.
Dinelson Lamet, whose workload is being limited while he works back from an elbow issue that kept him out of the postseason, started for the Padres on Tuesday and allowed one run and one hit in two innings. The run was scored in the first inning without a hit when Raimel Tapia walked, stole second base, went to third on a deep fly ball to right and scored on Charlie Blackmon’s groundout.
Miguel Díaz followed by allowing one hit in three innings, the second straight outing he has thrown three scoreless innings.
Craig Stammen allowed one hit while working the sixth and seventh innings. Pierce Johnson threw a perfect eighth, and Tim Hill did the same in the ninth.
It was just the fourth time in 292 games over the past five seasons that the Rockies had three or fewer hits in a game at Coors Field.
The Rockies’ early lead stood until the fifth inning, despite the Padres having outhit the Rockies 4-1 and hit the ball hard all around expansive Coors Field.
After his 407-foot drive was caught at the wall in left-center in the first inning, Machado left no doubt by sending a slider from Antonio Senzatela 431 feet and into the bleachers beyond left field to give the Padres a 2-1 lead in the fifth.
Marcano and Tommy Pham began the sixth inning with singles, and both scored before the Padres got another hit. Marcano, who went to third on Pham’s single, scored on a sacrifice fly by Austin Nola. Pham stole second, went to third on Nola’s fly ball and beat a high throw home on Kim’s grounder to shortstop.
Trent Grisham and Jake Cronenworth followed with walks to load the bases.
Machado reached below the zone to drive a fastball deep into the gap in right-center that fell just out of the reach of diving center fielder Garrett Hampson and rolled to the wall as the bases cleared. Machado jogged to third and scored one pitch later, on a single by Eric Hosmer that made it 8-1.
Hosmer left the game in the seventh inning for an undisclosed reason. Jake Cronenworth moved to first base, Marcano to second and John Andreoli, who had his contract purchased from Triple-A El Paso on Tuesday, entered in right field.
